Buhl Woman Survives MO Tornado

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By
Michelle Costa

BUHL, ID (KMVT-TV) - At least 142 people were killed and hundreds more injured when a tornado cut a destructive path through Joplin, Missouri last week.

Nearly a third of the city was damaged by the violent storm.

A local woman found herself in the middle of this storm and has now returned safely to Idaho.

It was by chance that Audrey Evans ended up in Joplin at the time of the tornado, but it was by faith that she and her family all survived.

"I was scared. I'd never been in anything like that and I was scared to death,” said Audrey Evans, Survived MO Tornado.

The date on the calendar is one Audrey Evans will never forget. May 22, a day when Joplin, Missouri was ripped apart.

"I went to Joplin, mo for my grandson's graduation. Towards the end, sirens were going off and everybody said: "get inside the building, it's a tornado warning. We saw the hospital floor go and cars in the air and just the noise was horrible,” said Evans.

It wasn't just the noise that scared Evans. It's the fact that her triplet grandsons were all right in the path of the storm.

One survived by jumping into a restaurant freezer, another went into a store freezer and the last by digging up planks of a home and climbing inside.

For Memorial Day, our country's flags are flying over the aftermath.

It's a reminder to many to not give up hope and that's what got the triplet's mother who was back here in Idaho through this disaster.

"You don't sleep. You stare at the TV and hope you'll hear something on the news," said Lisa Booher, Mother of Triplets.

While the Buhl resident is now safe at home, the memories remain.

"God saved us. That's all I can say,” said Evans.

The tornado packed 200 mph winds and injured more than 900 people.

And now, the city is looking for survivors and starting to rebuild.

Removing the millions of tons of debris and remaking the city's destroyed infrastructure will likely take well into the summer if not longer.